As the school year comes to an end, so do many sports seasons. This means many young athletes take a well deserved break from their sport for the summer and will start up again in the fall. Whether you are a dancer, skater, swimmer, gymnast, cheerleader, or participate in a different sport, summer is usually a time to take an important break from training. However, a big break from training your muscles and maintaining your fitness can have unintended consequences!
You have likely gotten much stronger and improved your skills throughout the season as you work on movements in your sport to perfect them. A long break in training the muscles you use for those movements can mean you will lose some of the hard work you have put in over the school year.
When next season starts up again, you will likely jump straight into a full training schedule to get ready for your first competition. This quick change from low activity to high training frequency can put you at higher risk of injury! A better strategy is to keep some physical activity and strengthening in your routine during the off season, then slowly ramp up your training schedule to prep for the start of the season.
So what can you do at Girl Fit to maintain your strength gains from this season, decrease your risk of injury next season, and make sure you are ready for a healthy stat to next season?
The most important thing is to stay active and keep working on your strength even in the off season!
To book a wellness visit or a private group fitness class, you can contact us at office@girlfitpt.com or at 617-618-9290.
Michaela Main, PT, DPT
Reference: 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4595911/pdf/ijspt-10-573.pdf
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